Welding equipment, e.g., metal inert gas (MIG) or Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) welding equipment, can be used for welding one metal workpiece to another metal workpiece. A welding gun can be designed to allow a user or robot to direct a metal welding wire toward a specific location on a target metal workpiece. The components of a typical welding gun include a handle, a gooseneck, a retaining head, a contact tip, and a nozzle. The welding wire is fed through the welding gun, and ultimately through a passageway in the contact tip, which is disposed at an end of the welding gun. The welding wire, when energized for welding, carries a high electrical potential. When the welding wire makes contact with the target metal workpiece an electrical circuit is completed and current flows through the welding wire, across the metal workpiece and to ground. The current causes the welding wire and the metal of the workpieces in contact with the welding wire to melt, allowing workpieces to be joined.
Extreme heat is caused by the resulting current flow. Since the contact tip usually includes copper or a copper alloy, the extreme heat tends to cause it to wear out relatively quickly. In addition, connection between welding gun components can loosen during use, and loose connections can be a source of electrical resistance and in turn generate excessive heat within a welding gun. Heat in welding guns translates into shorter consumable life, tip burn back, and even melting of components.
The proper installation of a contact tip in a welding device is important for maintaining consistency and efficiency in the welding process. Currently, weld operators use a wide variety of tools to remove and replace contact tips, such as pliers or clamping tools. These tools can prevent the weld operator from consistently changing a tip, which can reduce the efficiency of the welding process. Furthermore, these tools can damage the contact tip, thereby inhibiting its performance and creating more down time by increasing the frequency of contact tip changes. In addition, score marks on a contact tip resulting from a clamping device can provide a place for spatter to adhere and for heat to build up, requiring additional tip changes and down time.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a means of installing a contact tip that minimizes damage to the tip and increases the consistency of the installation, extending the usable lifetime of the contact tip and minimizing down time due to frequent contact tip changes.